My ideas about an adolescent’s brain have changed greatly over the last 15 to 20 years, as far as growth and development are concerned. In this case, I have come to understand that there are various explanations for an adolescent’s behavior. It is because I used to think that adolescents are weird people, and it was based on their behavior. Certain changes in an adolescent’s brain end up changing his/her behavior. Teen’s brains are different from the adult brain, and this is why they behave differently.
Teens behave differently because of the growth that takes place in their brains. I have come to note that adolescents need to be understood while they are in this stage because any misconceptions can lead to problems. Adolescents need to be handled carefully because they might think that everybody is against them. When an adolescent’s brain is growing, it causes a lot of imbalances that lead to a change in behavior.
Pruning is a period of brain development where the brain loses some grey matter. It is a wave of a circuit. Pruning can explain why adolescents might have problems to adjust themselves to the world that they live in. In this case, it can be said to be the process where the brain reorganizes itself thereby eliminating synaptic connections. It is a very critical stage because the brain decides what to keep and what should be done away with.
There are various implications of pruning to parents and educators of adolescents. Because this is a very critical stage in their lives, parents should understand them well. Educators can use this stage to ensure that adolescents relate well with people around them instead of making them feel out of place. Because pruning accounts for some of the problems that they face, they need to be assisted to cope with this.
According to Dr. Jay Giedd, teens engage in risky behavior because of various changes in their brains. In this case, understanding their brain may help us to know the dangers that they are exposed to. Different rates of development (in their brains) can make them engage in risky behavior. They have a different approach to justice, and that is why they may engage in such behavior.
Teenage drug abuse is so devastating to the adolescent brain because this is a very important stage in their development, and any distraction can lead to problems. Repeated cases of drug abuse alter their brain in a broadway. This might make them temperamental, and that is why they need to be approached well. Their brains are so susceptible to these effects, and that why they might experience devastating effects.
It should be known that young children have high arousal levels as far as their threshold is concerned. It means that they can sleep all along without any problem. On the other hand, adolescents have a problem with sleepiness. It shows that children and adolescents have different sleeping patterns. It should be known that active dreaming starts in the adolescent stage, and that is why they have a unique sleeping pattern. The school system and educators need to understand this fact, and that is why there are various implications. They should know that adolescents have sleeping problems and ensure that the school system favors them to undergo their studies. Their programs should be designed about these sleeping patterns.